How The Regal Princess ROCKED The Caribbean Without A Single Heavy Wave Of Water

[missaretha]

https://www.facebook.com/missaretha/posts/10162525069185567

 

We just got off the Regal Princess yesterday. It was our third time sailing on the Regal this year. However, on THIS cruise, we got something completely unexpected and the payoff was PHENOMENAL!

 

Born from the mind of Entertainment Director, Martyn Moss, the Regal Princess, in the Piazza, for one night, became a ROCK ARENA! Earlier in the cruise, we spoke with Martyn and during that conversation,  he told us about something he decided to give a try. I believe it was first done in July? We cruised on the Regal in December 2018 and then in March 2019 so we had not seen this yet. In the Piazza, there was going to be basically, what was a shortened rock concert. Featuring some serious classic rock hits from AC/DC, Queen, Journey, Nirvana, etc. 

 

Honestly? I'm a classically and professionally trained singer. I perform anything from Mozart to Metallica. I never really enjoyed any of the musical theatre type productions on cruises before. I tended to go see comedians, mentalists, and solo singers with just their single instrument. I geared toward string quartets, steel drum players, and simple classical style stuff performed in the Piazza.

 

So when I was told there was going to be a Princess Rock Orchestra in the Piazza at 10 PM the night we left St. Maartens? I was incredibly curious and NOT disappointed. The Piazza was jammed from bottom to top. Every age group was present. I had a view from the bottom all the way up, and all the way around. It was incredible!

 

They started out with, "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey. And the singer was FEMALE! Thank Jesus! The one other female on Earth who did not butcher a Journey song. I was in Heaven. And I belted every single word right along with her. And if anyone thinks that was the best of the best, nope. It just got BETTER.

 

I never thought that I, at 50 years old, still not quite coming to terms with entering my 50's, would ever get to bang my head again to some seriously fabulous rock music. I felt like I was 20, 30 and even 40 all over again.

 

The rest of the cruise? It was great as usual. Our Club Class seating was awesome. The bed finally didn't cause my body to be in more pain than normal.

 

But that ROCK CONCERT onboard? We sail again on the Regal in March during my Spring Break. If that's on the schedule, I'll be there.

 

Here's what most people DON'T know about it. All of the crew and musicians on the ship are doing this on their own. They rehearse on their own time. They don't get paid to do it. They do this because they want to do it, and because they want to bring this type of experience to everyone onboard. That shipped ROCKED and it had nothing to do with the movement of the water outside.

 

The link above is to the videos which I uploaded to my Facebook page. I've made it public so anyone can go view it. It's available to be shared wherever anyone wants to share it. My signature needs to be updated on here as we've been on tons of cruises since I last updated it. We're Elites on Princess now. But that may have been the BEST cruise I've ever been on.

 

[missaretha]

Martyn Moss is tagged on the post. If you comment on it, he will have access to it. Feel free to offer congrats. He and the other musicians deserve the accolades. If you were on this cruise and saw it, make sure it gets on your survey that Princess sends you. It will absolutely be on mine and my husband's surveys.

[hpeabody]

🙂

[BigJohnL]

I was on the Regal Oct. 31 through Nov. 10. Saw this concert and I agree it was outstanding. Probably my second best experience ever on a cruise. Yep, the ship was rockin'. 

[Steelers36]

We had similar to this on our Baltic cruise in June.  Allowing an exception for this special event, we did find some of the Piazza entertainment was much too loud for the venue with sound bouncing around and making it difficult to converse, etc.  Martyn is very creative and it was his initiative to put more entertainment in the Piazza and make it a focus, at the same time making less use of the aft Vista Lounge.

Edited December 16, 2019 by steelers36

[Colorado Coasty]

Carnivalzation?

[missaretha]

3 minutes ago, Colorado Coasty said:

Carnivalzation?

 

Not even in the same LEAGUE with Carnival. Not the same universe. Just...NOT!

[BigJohnL]

1 minute ago, missaretha said:

 

Not even in the same LEAGUE with Carnival. Not the same universe. Just...NOT!

Agreed!

 

And if someone doesn 't appreciate good rock music played very well and very loud the way God meant it to be played, then they don't have to go to the show. It only lasted 50 minutes and there's the rest of their cruise for ballroom dancing, line dancing or whatever else floats their boat.

[JEH]

They had this on the Regal mid October  New England  cruise it was  Outstanding . 

[New York Nana]

2 hours ago, BigJohnL said:

I was on the Regal Oct. 31 through Nov. 10. Saw this concert and I agree it was outstanding. Probably my second best experience ever on a cruise. Yep, the ship was rockin'. 

yes, us too!  I was so glad to see Martyn Moss and Dan Falconer on board! They are a dynamic duo for sure!!  Great addition to the ship’s entertainment!

[PRINCESS Sweet Pea]

Carnivalization...  Are you kidding???

Yes, there is an 'event' in the Piazza at 9:00 each evening, for 45 minutes.  I seriously can not imagine that a cruiser could not find some other nice spot on that huge ship to sit and relax and converse.  I guess sometimes the sun is just to hot, the food just has too many calories, the sand is just too, well, sandy.

Edited December 17, 2019 by PRINCESS Sweet Pea

[missaretha]

16 minutes ago, PRINCESS Sweet Pea said:

Carnivalization...  Are you kidding???

Yes, there is an 'event' in the Piazza at 9:00 each evening, for 45 minutes.  I seriously can not imagine that a cruiser could not find some other nice spot on that huge ship to sit and relax and converse.  I guess sometimes the sun is just to hot, the food just has too many calories, the sand is just too, well, sandy.

 

Can't agree more. That Piazza was packed from top to bottom. If half the ship wasn't there, I would be shocked. The videos I shot were from the very bottom. We were seated right in front because we wanted to shoot as much video as possible. I didn't;t shoot the songs by Queen because all anyone would have heard was ME singing every word of the songs. I also wanted to enjoy it too, not just focus on shooting video. Come March, I'll hopefully see this again and get to shoot the other songs or additional songs.

 

By the time this was over at 11 PM, there was nowhere to go anywhere in the Piazza. People were packed in body to body. People crammed in seats in ways I'd never seen before. Apparently, there are some really creative ways to make a chair fit into a space half the chair's size...LOL! 

 

Anyone would have had their chance to do anything else in smaller company if they wanted to. Even crazier was that not everyone who performed was a singer or musician on the ship. Quite a bit of them had other totally different jobs. Like Cruise Director, Entertainment Director, etc. The one time that you get to see Martin out of his officer's uniform is during that concert in the Piazza. And his shirt was killer too. When one heard what some of the jobs were onboard the ship, it was jaw dropping. People don't hear something like "engineer" and think "plays rock music during spare time." I do but many don't.

[missaretha]

1 hour ago, BigJohnL said:

Agreed!

 

And if someone doesn 't appreciate good rock music played very well and very loud the way God meant it to be played, then they don't have to go to the show. It only lasted 50 minutes and there's the rest of their cruise for ballroom dancing, line dancing or whatever else floats their boat.

 

All I have to say about this particular reply is "YES, YES, YES!!!!!!!"

[Colorado Coasty]

1 hour ago, BigJohnL said:

Agreed!

 

And if someone doesn 't appreciate good rock music played very well and very loud the way God meant it to be played, then they don't have to go to the show. It only lasted 50 minutes and there's the rest of their cruise for ballroom dancing, line dancing or whatever else floats their boat.

Music?

[jwattle]

7 minutes ago, Colorado Coasty said:

Music?

 

If you disagree there are several other venues, and even the Piazza has several other types of entertainment for you. There's no need to start a big kerfluffle because you don't like ROCK, sheesh, play nice! (please)😄

[BigJohnL]

2 hours ago, Colorado Coasty said:

Carnivalzation?

 

27 minutes ago, Colorado Coasty said:

Music?

I just need to remember what the Sysop of a bulletin board told me many, many years ago: "Please don't feed the trolls." There I go. Did it again.

Edited December 17, 2019 by BigJohnL

[Colorado Coasty]

27 minutes ago, jwattle said:

 

If you disagree there are several other venues, and even the Piazza has several other types of entertainment for you. There's no need to start a big kerfluffle because you don't like ROCK, sheesh, play nice! (please)😄

Amazing what two words can do. I played electric bass in a band when rock was actually more than just noise, probably before many of you were born. FYI, I would probably sit and enjoy along with everybody else.

[MamaFej]

Thank you, @missaretha! It was a Baltic cruise on the Regal for our 25th anniversary in 2016 that turned us into cruisers. We will be back on board in November from Singapore to Sydney. I sincerely hope that this wonderful event will happen for us as well. 

 

I'm a former (mediocre) choir member, (pretty good) band geek, and the mother of three kids who do drama, choir, musical theater, chamber music (vocal and instrumental), marching band, jazz band, orchestra... Heck, one of my kids is a Music Ed major and future band director. I've been to numerous excellent performances, and even more just okay ones, as well as a few "It's a good thing we love this kid" events. 

 

Performers with true talent who perform because they love it are a true joy. I eagerly await the opportunity to experience this joy in about 11 months. 

 

Thanks, again!

[neverbeenhere]

If you are sitting, you are missing out.

 

I WANNA ROCK

I WANT TO ROCK

[missaretha]

3 hours ago, Colorado Coasty said:

Amazing what two words can do. I played electric bass in a band when rock was actually more than just noise, probably before many of you were born. FYI, I would probably sit and enjoy along with everybody else.

 

Yes. No kerfluffling please. I've been singing since I was 5. I even made a living off of it. I don't bother with the garbage people insist on calling "music" today. Makes me want to stab my ears with forks. In competition, I've won everything but a trophy. Name anything else, I've won it. The one thing I've never done is sing with a band. I've had people backing me up solo but never been in a band. Probably because I prefer to control the material I do and where I do it.

 

I'm 45 years into it and it shows no signs of slowing down or stopping. On top of that, I'm a nurse. One job is difficult and stressful. The other is difficult and relieves that stress. 

[nattie]

We have seen this concert on Regal in June in the Baltic and LOVED it!!! Martin is absolutely amazing for pulling this off. 

[richsea]

We also saw this concert on the Regal repo from NYC. It was fantastic! We arrived a little late & were so sorry we missed the beginning. Hope they still offer it when we board in January; we’ll be sure to catch it all!

[BigJohnL]

I was amazed by the size of the crowd. Never saw any performance in the Piazza attended by so many. They were standing 3 and 4 deep all the way around decks 6 & 7. Plus both spiral stairways were packed top to bottom. And everyone was really into it. I'm sure the members of the band were really energized by the enthusiasm of the crowd. 

[AbbyGirl]

Spring Break March 29-April 5th on Regal... I really hope they are still ROCKIN' then!

[jg21]

Just went to your FB page. What a show!!! Thank you for sharing this.